POTSDAM -- Recent research by SUNY Potsdam Associate Professor of Chemistry Dr. Fadi Bou-Abdallah and two colleagues has pointed to potential damaging effects in one of the most prescribed anti-malaria drugs.

A paper they recently published in ChemMedChem investigated the side effects of one of the most commonly prescribed medicines to fight malaria.

Malaria kills more young children than any other infectious disease.

In 2013, the World Health Organization estimated that there were more than 200 million clinical cases worldwide and more than half a million deaths, mostly of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the disease is both preventable and curable, undesirable side effects from common drugs may lead to serious diseases.

While there is hope that an effective malaria vaccine is possible by 2030, the team of researchers -- which included Dr. Robert Doyle from Syracuse University, Dr. Fadi Bou-Abdallah from SUNY Potsdam and Dr. Chloe Zubieta from Grenoble University in France -- set out to investigate the molecular mechanism of one of the most prescribed anti-malaria drugs, Chloroquine.

Chloroquine kills the malaria parasite by altering the pH of the parasite's lysosome, resulting in a snowball effect that inhibits critical chemical reactions.

However, uncontrolled and long term use of the drug can be toxic to humans and can lead to adverse side effects, including heart problems and ultimately death.

The team identified a protein (called saposin B) in the lysosome of the human cell and showed that it binds chloroquine. By binding chloroquine, saposin B may reverse the undesirable side effects of chloroquine and alleviate its toxicity, potentially by flushing the drug. However, too much intake of the drug may prevent saposin B from performing its normal function of removing damaged lipids inside the lysosome. This build-up of lipids in turn can lead to lipidosis and possibly the observed side effects of chloroquine. Studies are ongoing in healthy human volunteers, to investigate whether saposin-chloroquine complex can be observed in urine, supporting the team's hypothesis that saposin B is an important biomarker of chloroquine toxicity.

Dr. Bou-Abdallah was recently named a 2016 Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The award provides an unrestricted research grant of $60,000 to faculty members at primarily undergraduate institutions who are accomplished researchers and committed educators.